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anonymous
Q: Which passport to choose: U.S or Chinese or both?
Our baby will be born this week, my wife and I are going crazy with this damn decision. I heard there will be new laws to combat dual passport holders( I don't see how when your free to use another passport on the other side). But I know this question has been asked before and we are asking today because it's good to update these questions.
so in a medium sized city like Shenzhen which would you choose and why? We've only got a few days before she goes into labor and the doctor will need to select foreigner or Chinese so we are hoping to make the right choice, for the record we don't plan to leave China until they show us the door. I work with a legal RP. Is it true that I wouldn't be allowed to get a family visa at the PSB after birth if we chose to select foreigner on the birth certificate? I heard for the first visa I must take my new born baby to America for his first visa? So confusing.
9 years 30 weeks ago in Family & Kids - China
Get the Hukou and you can apply for a U.S. Passport anytime before the baby is 18 years old.
The UK consulates let you register for a UK birth certificate "on the quiet ". I'm sure USA do as well. Totally agree with Ironman, register you baby as Chinese for now but quietly get her/him also registered as American.
ironman510:
Yeah agreed with Hotwater, do it quietly and you'll be fine.
ironman510:
Yeah agreed with Hotwater, do it quietly and you'll be fine.
The Chinese passport is basically useless for traveling, they have a very limited number of countries allowing them visa exemptions (fewer than even third world countries have) and they are all tiny places that rely on tourism for their also tiny economy (e.g. Maldives). It is also becoming increasingly harder for Chinese nationals to obtain visas for tourism in most countries due to the bad behavior a large number of Chinese tourists are showing (if you think American tourists show no respect to their hosts and are obnoxious, wait to see the Chinese).
You can register your baby as a Chinese if you intend to stay in China for awhile, but on the long run he is better to obtain a US passport, no one wants to be stuck in China for the rest of his life.
It's as simple as where are you going to live?
I'm from the US and have been in China since 2005. My son was born in Shanghai in 2010 and we registered him as a Chinese citizen. He got his Hukou and a Chinese passport. We are in China for the long-term so it made sense. He could go to any school and have the same "perks" as a Chinese citizen in China.
We then planned a trip to the US when my son turned one so my family could meet the newest addition to the family. We went to the US consulate to get a visa for my wife and son. This is when the trouble began.
The consulate general pulled me aside and told me:
Consulate: "We don't give visas to US citizens."
Me: "My son is Chinese."
Consulate: "Your son has the birthright to US citizenship and therefore denied entry as a foreign traveler. As you know, China doesn't recognize dual-citizenship. You need to renounce his Chinese citizenship before applying for US citizenship."
"Failure to document a child promptly as a U.S. citizen may cause hardship for the parents or child later on when attempting to obtain a passport or register for school." Source: https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1043/~/birth-abroad-of-a-u.s.-citizen
Ouch.
When I submitted the application, I was slightly interrogated. I was asked so many questions, but they all were essentially along the lines of "Why did you wait so long? You are supposed to do this immediately after birth." Then after staring me down for awhile, he welcomed my son as a US citizen.
After getting his US passport, there is obviously no Chinese visa. So, you have to obtain a "One-Time Exit Visa" from the Chinese government. It's a little booklet they give you allowing your child to leave China as a foreigner, there is nothing put into the US passport.
After you leave China, the renouncement of Chinese citizenship is official. You will then need to apply for a 30 day L visa in the US in order to get your child back into China.
After you come back to China again, you can then apply for a two year multiple entry residence permit at the PSB following the Chinese parent. Alternatively, the child can get a visa that follows the foreign parent, which would generally be a one year visa for those working in China.
So, we could have left the consulate and kept his Chinese citizenship (in retrospect, we SHOULD HAVE kept it) but could not have visited the USA. We got his US citizenship and now he is another foreigner in China.
Which means no local insurance (free healthcare). Less or no access to local schools. Expensive tuition. Yay for us.
More info on Birth of U.S. Citizens Abroad at http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/abroad/events-and-records/birth.html
Good luck!
ironman510:
Oh that blue book that allows them to leave will be abolished next week, two passports are better in my option.
loganwenger:
Yes, ideally two passports are better than one. The best of both world's right? As I mentioned in my reply, the US consulate denied us a US passport for my son until his Chinese citizenship was renounced.
Even with two passports, you cannot leave China on the US passport because the child is Chinese and doesn't have a Chinese visa in the US passport.. Also, the US won't give a visa in the Chinese passport to someone with the right to be a US citizen.
Furthermore, you cannot pull the old switcheroo mid-flight. It doesn't work like that. In order to get two passports, one must lie to the US consulate when asked if the child has Chinese citizenship. Then stay in China until you are ready to go home permanently.
ironman510:
Strange we didn't have that problem, we just go to Hong Kong with a Hong Kong passbook and then we use the U.S passport at the Hk airport for traveling. But we have to be back before 14 days.
Oh that blue book that allows them to leave will be abolished next week, two passports are better in my option.
ironman510:
If he or she has a Hong Kong passport then go into Hong Kong and leave Hong Kong with your U.S passport. No problem, our vacations are done like this.
Even if you leave China, it's worthwhile to try to keep both, in case your child ever decides to make a life in China. He'll always be seen as outsider, but a passport and ID in China give locals less leverage to make demands.
I plan to immigrate back to Europe, but first live in a country that isn't my own for some months. That way, my children will become full EU citizens with accompanying rights. I have British and Dutch passports already, but that isn't enough to prevent oppressive national laws from applying to you and your family.
But if you live in another country for 6 months, get the residency stamp, then return to your country, you can say "F*** you" to immigration. They can't demand any language learning from you or your family, can't rake in 1000euros per year for annual residence permits, nothing. They are legally obligated to stamp your family's passports, valid for 5 years! All the way to citizenship, in the case of my Chinese wife.
Sure, the system is unfair, and open to abuse by unsavoury immigrants, but that's the way it is. The rules were developed for traveling EU businessmen, and I'm sure they wanted to discrimiate who got to use it. But since businessmen have no universal form of measurable wealth (cash? bank account? real estate? stock or bonds?), they just had to let it apply to anyone who lives in another EU country.
